SHENANDOAH — Grand Oaks used a lengthy fourth-quarter scoring drive to close out a 27-7 win over Tomball Christian on Thursday at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

The Grizzlies (2-1) were happy to get back in the win column after their first lost, a 42-33 setback against The Woodlands Christian Academy in Week 2.

“It feels great,” Grand Oaks sophomore Chris Carlock said. “Being the first team to play at the brand new high school, it feels great that we’re setting the tradition and getting things done.”

Grand Oaks lit the scoreboard first Thursday with a 30-yard field goal from Grant Nickel with 4:18 to play in the first. The Grizzlies marched down the field thanks in large part to JoBarre Reed’s 45-yard run.

Nickel kicked two field goals for the Grizzlies in the win and converted both of his extra point attempts.

“He’s a weapon,” Grand Oaks coach Mike Jackson said of Nickel. “You know if you get in range, you’ve got a pretty good shot. Even if you’re out of range, you’ve still got a pretty good shot. He definitely shortens the field for us.”

Tomball Christian used a 1-play drive to take the lead late in the opening quarter. After a Grand Oaks punt, Warriors quarterback Hudson Gourley ran to the outside and found the end zone 64 yards later.

The Grizzlies took the lead back and extended it with a pair of touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter.

With 8:25 to play in the half, Carlock intercepted a fourth-down heave from Gourley and returned it 92 yards for the score.

“I saw everyone looking at me with high hopes and turning around and fighting for us to get a TD,” Carlock said of the runback.

About six minutes later, Grizzlies quarterback James Holmon got a pass off while being hit and Kendre Jackson caught it in stride for a 29-yard touchdown to make it 17-7.

“Kendre’s a wonderful athlete and he’s done a really good job,” Jackson said. “Just like all the rest of them, we have a long road to travel until we get to where we want to go.”

Holmon completed 7-of-11 passes for 96 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the win.

After the next Tomball drive ended in a punt, Reed caught a third-down pass as time expired. On the play, he drew a facemask penalty that granted an untimed down to Grand Oaks. Nickel used the opportunity to kick a 40-yard field goal.

Reed unofficially ran for 61 yards on eight carries. Byron Taylor led the Grizzlies with 75 yards on 23 carries.

In the third quarter, Grand Oaks recovered a pair of Warrior fumbles and had an interception, but were unable to get points from the turnovers.

The first post-turnover drive was derailed by a fumbled snap that lost 17 yards and the second ended in a Grizzlies lost fumble. After a Kendre Jackson interception late in the third quarter, a false start and 3-and-out drive followed.

“The hardest thing for a young team is to learn how to put their foot on somebody’s neck and end it when you have the opportunity,” Mike Jackson said. “Several times tonight, we had that opportunity because the defense just kept coming up big.”

Grand Oaks got some insurance with 2:33 to go in the fourth quarter when Taylor capped off a time-consuming drive with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone.

“When it came down to icing the game, I bet we chewed up eight or nine minutes of the fourth quarter,” Mike Jackson said. “That’s the way you ice football games. That’s the kind of football we want to play. Our plan is to get in the weight room, get rocked up and to physically impose our will on other people. That’s the been the plan from Day 1 and that’ll continue to be the plan.”